


Bedtime Stories

by sleepy_stitches



Category: Just Roll With It (Podcast)
Genre: Learning to read, definite spoilers for arc 1 ep 19-21, i think about these two a lot, just not to start with, mostly fluff with some mild angst, post orphanage, pre podcast, this was meant to be all fluff i'm sorry, vengolor brothers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:53:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23078893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepy_stitches/pseuds/sleepy_stitches
Summary: "They end up taking turns, Sylnan spinning tales one night, Br'aad reading from his book the next. It's comforting, almost as if they're a real family, with a normal life."Br'aad learning to read has been on my mind for some time, as has Sylnan helping Br'aad sleep. Add some encouragement from the discord, and now I've written this. Enjoy!
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to you wonderful people on the JRWI discord for encouraging me to write this (lookin mostly at you Magi and Sa). It's been a few month since I last wrote, so i might be a lil rusty, but hopefully it's good anyway. I'll stop rambling now,,,, enjoy!

“Sylnan. Sylnan. Sylnan wake up. Sylnan, I woke up and I can’t sleep” Br’aad shook his older brother awake. 

“Br’aad?” Sylnan blinked a few times, groggy, and then sat up. “Br’aad what’s wrong?”

“I can’t sleep. Will you tell me a story?” Br’aad clambered up on the end of the bed, pouting at Sylnan. “Please?”

“Of course I will.” Sylnan lifted the thin blanket on his bed, and Br’aad curled up beside him. “Once upon a time, there was a kid, older than you, but he’s younger than me. With pointed ears-”

“Like us!” 

“Just like us. And he was trapped, in a house, with this evil old witch. The witch hated him and made him do all of her cleaning. But one day he ran away, and he took all her gold. He used the gold to buy himself his own house, and he lived happily ever after.” Sylnan paused every now and again to think up more of the story, but eventually he finished speaking, and Br’aad had nestled right into Sylnan’s side, almost asleep. Sylnan smiled, and pulled the blanket, tighter around them both.

“Syl?” A quiet whisper, just loud enough for Sylnan to hear. “I love you.”

“I love you too B’raad, sleep well.”


	2. Chapter One

In the year after they left the orphanage, Sylnan noticed both he and his brother get happier. Living on the street, stealing food, nicking coins, just enough to get by. It reminded Sylnan of the heroic stories he used to tell Br’aad, boys on big adventures, escaping in the nick of time, clearing any obstacles in the way. They even had a base now, some old factory that had been long since abandoned. It was no mansion, but it was better than the streets. Besides, he had Br’aad. To Sylnan, anywhere could be home, so long as Br’aad was there. 

During the day, the brothers wandered through the wharf, stealing from those they could con, running from those who they couldn’t. On this particular day however, the Vengolor brothers seemed to be doing more of the latter. A lot more of the latter.

“Get back here thieves! Bloody bastards!” A human, likely just passing through the wharf, shouted after Sylnan as he sprinted off. While slipping coins out of pockets he was a little too hasty, causing the human to turn around and attempt to grab him. Luckily Sylnan was small and good at dodging, but the man was not far behind and closing in on him quickly. 

“Hey!” A small stone bounced off the head of the man, clattering to the ground. Sylnan could just see Br’aad, mouthing the word ‘run’ at him. “Hey, you, is this yours?”

“My purse! Get back here, fucking kids.” 

As the man turned to chase Br’aad, Sylnan took off again, hoping, praying, that Br’aad had a plan. One that went further than just running. Just in case, he made a mental note to take a couple backstreets to bring him back to the street Br’aad was (hopefully) still on. 

Minutes later, an out of breath Sylnan crossed back onto the street he started on, scanning the area for Br’aad. Who was nowhere to be found. However, a little further down the road, to the left, there was a market, crowded with people. 

_Lose them in the crowd. Hopefully he listens to what I say at least sometimes._

It took over an hour, but finally Sylnan found Br’aad, grinning ear to ear, wandering through the crowd. Sylnan grabbed the younger boy by the arm, dragging him into a nearby alley.

“Where the hell have you been? I was worried sick, I thought you’d been caught or something!” Br’aad grabbed Sylnan by the forearms excitedly, beginning to ramble.

“Syl, Syl! Listen, there was this old guy, and he had a book, and he saved me, and he taught me to read, and he stopped the man and-” Sylnan held up a hand to quiet him for a moment.

“Br’aad. Breathe. What happened?”

“Well, that man chased me, so I ran into the main street and there was this other man with a book who helped me hide and told the first guy I wasn’t there. Then book guy and I talked, y’know, he taught me a couple things, and I kind of know how to read a bit! Here, look, that sign there, it says mmm-ay-rr-kits” Br’aad squinted at the lettering of a poster, struggling slightly.”Or at least I think so anyway. He told me to come back to his shop tomorrow, he’d teach me more!”

“That’s great Br’aad, but are you sure we can trust him? There’s so many bad people here, or what if he turns us in for stealing, or-” This time Br’aad held up a hand.

“He’s so nice though Syl, he didn’t mind that I- we stole from that guy, he actually fed me, he said I was welcome whenever, Syl, I think we can trust him, really.” Sylnan sighed, resignedly rolling his eyes.

“I’m coming with you tomorrow. The second something feels off though we’re getting out of there, okay.”

“He’s super cool! You’ll love him Syl!” Br’aad’s grin widened, and he hugged Sylnan once more. “I’m sorry for disappearing.”

“I just worry about you sometimes. It’s because I love you.” Sylnan grabbed his brother's hand and began leading the way out of the alley.

“I love you too Sylnan”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be back with more tomorrow,,, I'm sleepy already,,, I enjoyed writing this though, it's nice to get back into the swing of things.


End file.
